Retrospective analysis of the records of 86 patients with Takayasu's disease confirmed that the condition is more common in women, that it is frequently associated with a history of tuberculosis and that angiography is of considerable help in showing vascular lesions that are characteristic by their location (common carotid artery, post-vertebral subclavian artery) and by their diffusion to various areas. Histological examination of 20 surgical specimens confirmed the diagnostic value of sclerosis of the media and adventitia (associated or not with inflammatory lesions) and therefore radically different from the lesions of the intima observed in Horton's disease. Diagnostic criteria based on clinical, radiological and histological data are proposed.